I guess this must have been mentioned here at some point. Featuring Gary Moore, Jon Hiseman, and more. Don't know yet if it's ruined or not by Phil Collins, but he's on it too. Kind of interesting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variat..._Webber_album)
I still wonder what Phil Collins is doing on that album.
I can remember an interview with Andrew Lloyd Webber bragging that the album was done by the sevenpiece and there weren't overdubs or additional musicians needed, like in rock-productions. Well, with 2 keyboard-players and 5 other musicians, you can cover a lot of ground.
Actually he was backed by the complete Colosseum II lineup.
There are also some nice live vids on YT.
Back in my Queens College days, I recall watching a video in the student union building of "the making of" Variations. Black and white if I recall. I would imagine it must be floating around on youtube.
Great album, some blistering playing from Colosseum II in there too. Well worth a listen. Phil Collins was credited with Drums & Percussion but I think most of it was covered by Jon Hiseman.
Originally Posted by TheH
Plus Rod Argent who shared the keys with Don Airey. That could have been how Phil Collins came in, since they were working on Argent;'s solo album.
IMHO Variations was one of those like Sky's albums of the time which had a certain 'middlebrow' appeal (I'd include some solo Wakeman in this too). This sort of 'classical rock' thing had a much bigger outreach than most 'prog' of the time, which more or less entirely sold to young rock fans, I'd imagine. Again like Sky's first couple, it has its moments, but I don't play these sort of things that much.
Collins was on a lot of albums back then. Remember he was one of Brian Eno's go-to drummers on most of his solo output of the 70s.
Variations was a lot more interesting than Sky, IMO.
I like Variations, but I like Sky as well. But Variations has cello, flute and saxes, which ads something.
As I understand it, ALW specifically wrote this as a feature piece for his cellist brother, Julian.
Would you put Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds in the same category? (It’s an album that clearly holds a certain nostalgic appeal for many, but which I—who have no memory of it from back in the day, and thus no nostalgic feelings for it—personally find to be absolutely execrable.)
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
Had this one too interesting loved switched on Bach better. [emoji3] Hard to find Switched on Bach now a days. Must be some kind on contract keeping it out of the channel now.
Wow, glad I have that wonderful box set! I gave copy of that to my brother - I should tell him it's got some value.
Yes I was going to type that one; same era and it probably appealed to the same demographic, but it's not quite 'classical rock'. But yes I reckon there were many who had Sky 1/2*, Variations, some of Wakeman's (Journey/Arthur) and War Of The Worlds but the idea of owning an album by the likes of Genesis, Yes, ELP etc. probably never entered their heads, let alone anything more esoteric than that. (*Although the long suites Francis Monkman wrote for Sky have substance, I think.)
I would say Mike Oldfield crossed over to this audience too but somehow his work has that something extra, for me. At least, the first three do...he got patchier and 'lighter' after that, IMHO.
Last edited by JJ88; 06-18-2018 at 06:26 PM.
I don't think it's a contractual thing. All of Wendy Carlos' records are out of print, even the ones that were done after she left CBS. The whole lot of them were reissued in the late 90's, by East Side Digital. I bought a few of them, notably Sonic Seasonings and the A Clockwork Orange album. But I never got around to getting the Bach box, nor did I get Beauty In The Beast or Digital Moonscapes, her two mid 80's albums where she showed off her new tuning systems she had devised.
I think the Tron soundtrack might be still in print, but I'm not sure. I know that didn't get reissued until a few years after the rest of the catalog. But all the classic stuff has been out of print, for whatever reason, since before ESD went under.
LPs of Switched On Bach are still fairly common, but yes, CDs are rare. What is also a bit eerie is that Wendy Carlos's website (where she used to be a very active writer) hasn't been updated in ten years or so.
Yeah, that is weird, I remember she had lots of cool stories on her site back in the late 90's, when the ESD reissues first appeared and for a few years afterward.
But apparently, someone's watching out for her "interests", as anything from her catalog that gets posted on Youtube gets taken down almost immediately.
I know a lot of people make a big deal out of S-OB, but really, to me, it's her original music, the music she did for A Clockwork Orange and Tron, Sonic Seasonings, Digital Moonscapes, and Beauty In The Beast (the latter two I did eventually get to hear), that are really amazing and should be heard by more people.
Still enjoy this album, I've had it for over 30 years. Really interesting stuff going on. Really like Gary Moore's work on it.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
Those of us who got it early received a bonus 45 of Theme & Variations 1-4 and Variations 16.
I have that box set as well. Alas any Wendy Carlos stuff seems to be unavailable. Talking about something I would love to see re-released.
Getting her stuff back in print (as it were) seems to me to be a better way of serving her "interests", but maybe that's just me. Unless there's some sort of KLF vibe going on. Shame, because I heard SOB many years ago and thought it wasn't that interesting, but I think I'd like to hear it again.
Haven't heard Variations in years either. Andrew Lloyd Webber is the devil incarnate of course, but this was one of his better ideas (or rather, his brother's idea). In the UK it was the theme of the long-running ITV arts programme 'The South Bank Show'. Nowadays the words "ITV arts programme" would provoke howls of disbelieving laughter.
The South Bank Show had some interesting episodes:
http://epguides.com/SouthBankShow/
Last edited by Halmyre; 06-19-2018 at 02:43 AM.
I really don’t know how the topic got shifted to Wendy Carlos but that’s fine by me—I have a ton more respect for her than that hack ALW. The Switched-On series is sort of the millstone round her neck but to be fair to her, she is not to blame for all those crass, exploitative cash-in records that followed in Switched-On Bach’s wake. The worst thing the Switched-On records did, however, was detract from Wendy’s own original music. Sonic Seasonings in particular is just stunning, and deserves to be heard more widely.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
Just consider Variations to be a Colosseum II project and you don't need to worry about the show tunes guy.
But it's written by the show tunes guy.
Though I have to admit, I've nothing against the show tunes guy.
Well, he wrote it based on music by this Paganini dude, so he doesn't get all the credit. But after that everything was his own work, honest guv.
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